Championship Series

News

Akron, Ohio - After two games of fundamentally sloppy play, the Racers finally got back to playing like they know how. Akron outperformed Team China in every aspect of the game Saturday night to win 5-2.

The Racers (12-7) got off to a fast start on offense. In the bottom of the first, the Racers got their first five batters on base. Veronica Wootson led off the game with a single to left field. Third baseman Norelle Dickson followed that with a chopper to second base that she beat for a single. Next up, Iyhia McMichael reached on a two base error by shortstop Sun Li, scoring Wootson. Two batters later and with runners on second and third base Kristen Butler laced a single to left field that scored both McMichael and Kellie Middleton.

The Racers went on to add insurance runs in the second and third, on a Wootson single plated Kristin Johnson, who tripled to right earlier in the second inning, and a double smashed to right field by Butler scored McMichael in the home half of the third inning. Butler ended the day 2-3 with a double and three runs batted in.

While the Racers' offense was busy building a 5-0 lead Akron's pitcher Radara McHugh was busy setting down Chinese batters. She gave up only two infield hits in the first three innings while facing only ten batters.

Team China attempted a comeback in the middle of the game as they scored a run in the top of both the fourth and fifth innings, but that would be as close as they could get.

The defense for Akron returned to typical form as well. After making eight errors in the first two games of the series, the Racers didn't yield a single error and even made some great plays along the way led by Johnson. The shortstop started five groundouts including two balls where she ranged far into the hole before throwing out the batter.

For the Racers, McHugh (5-3) picked up the complete game victory giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks.

For China, Zhou Yin picked up the loss giving up five runs, four earned, on nine hits while striking out a pair.

These two exciting teams finish their series tomorrow with the first pitched scheduled for 12:05 P.M.

For ticket information for that game or any other Akron Racer home game please contacted the Racer ticket office at (330)376-8188.